F20
Issued 11/8/2006

91 Hammond Avenue, PO Box 456
Wagga Wagga NSW 2650
Phone 02 6922 0608 Fax: 02 6921 2241
Email: admin@rwcc.com.au

Riverina Water County Council supplies drinking quality water throughout the Council areas of Wagga Wagga, Greater Hume, Lockhart and Urana. This water comes from two types of source:

Surface waters are the local rivers and creeks within Riverina Water's area. The major surface water source is the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga Wagga. Other surface waters include the Billabong and Colombo Creeks.

Underground waters are found in layers of water bearing sands and gravels. Bores are the main means of extracting underground waters, although Riverina Water also uses a well and "spear points" to extract water from some shallow sand beds in villages such as Humula and Woomargama.

The main characteristics of surface waters which require treatment are the suspended clay and other particles (referred to as turbidity) and the bacteria that result from water running of lands inhabited by humans, grazing animals or wildlife.

Underground waters used by Riverina Water are of a high quality. Where necessary, shallower low quality underground waters are bypassed in preference for deeper high quality water. The underground waters are generally very clear with little or no bacterial contamination. The main characteristics of our underground sources that require treatment are varying quantities of dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide and, in some bores, dissolved iron and manganese.

These dissolved minerals can precipitate out of the water and build up in the water network to cause occasional discolouration. Flushing the system is carried out to minimise this problem.

Approximately 75% of the water supplied by Riverina Water is from underground sources. Depending on where you live, your water could be from a surface source, an underground source or a mixture of both.

As an indication, customers who live on the North side of the Murrumbidgee River or west from Collingullie receive water from underground sources. Central Wagga Wagga has a larger percentage of surface water, as do towns such as Uranquinty, The Rock, Yerong Creek, Henty, Mangoplah and Ladysmith.